35results about How to "More predictable" patented technology

The invention provides systems and methods for neuromuscular electrical stimulation to muscle tissue. Stimulation electrodes may be provided on a stimulation pad, configured to provide electrical stimulation to a target tissue. A system for neuromuscular electrical stimulation may also include pressure generating mechanisms that may provide a compressive force to a region with the target tissue, thereby removing some excess third space fluid from the region.

This invention is an improved method and device for treating varicose veins 200 or the greater saphenous vein 202. The method comprises the use of infrared laser radiation in the region of 1.2 to 2.2 um in a manner from inside the vessel 200 or 202 such that the endothelial cells of the vessel wall 704 are damaged and collagen fibers in the vessel wall 704 are heated to the point where they permanently contract, the vessel 200 or 202 is occluded and ultimately resorbed. The device includes a laser 102 delivered via a fiber optic catheter 300 that may have frosted or diffusing fiber tips 308, or that may be provided with a protective spacer. A motorized pull back device 104 may be used, and a thermal sensor 600 may be used to help control the power required to maintain the proper treatment temperature.

Micro-cutting machines for forming cuts in catheters, guidewires, and similar products, are disclosed, including a micro-cutting machine that can directly control the dimensions of the resultant beams being cut into products, and that can capture images of each cut for feedback control and accuracy verification.

In a method for dynamically optimizing resource utilization in a system over time according to one or more objectives, data including information indicative of current environmental conditions, upcoming environmental conditions, a current state of a system configuration, and current system operating conditions is dynamically updated. Automatic analysis of the data using a probabilistic model based on conditional relationships is performed periodically. For each periodically generated set of possible system control actions, a probabilistic model is used to automatically analyze each possible system control action and an optimal system control action is selected based on a set of current utility functions. For each periodically generated set of possible system control actions, control of the system according to the optimal system control action selected from the possible system control actions. Resource optimization couples condition-based and environmental monitoring with automated reasoning and decision making technologies, to develop real time optimal control and decision strategies.

A surgical clip applicator includes a handle configured to produce translational movement; a cartridge containing a plurality of clips arranged in a row, the cartridge including a jaw assembly for receiving and closing a clip; a jaw closing mechanism for closing the jaw assembly; a clip feed mechanism for serially feeding a lead clip from the row to the jaw assembly; a clip advance mechanism for advancing the row as the lead clip is fed to the jaws; and a rocker mechanism for translating translational movement from the handle opposite translational movement of the haw closing mechanism in one direction and the clip feed mechanism and clip advance mechanism in an opposite direction.

A method and apparatus for requesting bandwidth in a subscriber station is disclosed. The method dynamically changes the size of the bandwidth request based on the prediction of the number of packets needed to be transmitted. The average delay experienced by packets in a queue is measured, and this information is then used to change the coefficient of a prediction equation. When the experienced average delay is below the agreed upon QoS latency parameter or delay target, the method reduces the size of the bandwidth requests by making the prediction equation more conservative. On the other hand, when the experienced delay is above the agreed upon latency, the algorithm will make the prediction equation more aggressive, increasing the bandwidth requests and reducing the latency for future packets. By modifying the prediction equation based on the measured delay, the method is able to select the optimal point for achieving time delay requirements while preserving air-link resources.

According to the present invention, a shaving implement includes a handle, a neck, a razor cartridge, and a biasing member. The neck extends from the handle and includes a first connecting member and a guard bar having a skin-engaging surface. The razor cartridge includes a cap positioned aft of the at least one blade. The razor cartridge is attached to the first connecting member of the neck such that the razor cartridge is pivotable relative to the skin-engaging surface of the guard bar between a neutral position and a rotated position. A biasing member urges the razor cartridge toward the neutral position. During use, the frictional forces caused by the surface being shaved passing over the skin-engaging surface of the guard bar are transferred into the handle, and, therefore, have a negligible effect on the pivotal movement of the razor cartridge between the neutral and rotated positions during normal shaving.

A method of designing a material by optimising values for design variables includes the steps of: (i) providing one or more property models that produce a prediction for a value of a respective property of the material as a function of the design variables and produce a value for the uncertainty in the prediction, (ii) setting a specification target for a desired value for each property and a probability for that specification target to be met or exceeded, (iii) determining a probabilistic target for a value for each property, the probabilistic target being based on the specification target and the probability, and defining a merit index factor based on the degree to which a given prediction satisfies the probabilistic target, (iv) constructing an overall merit factor from the individual merit index factors of the properties, and (v) determining a set of optimal design variables that optimise the overall merit factor.

A piston having a head includes a circumferential compression ring groove having a top surface, a bottom surface and an inset rear wall extending between the top surface and the bottom surface, wherein a confined area of the compression ring groove is hardened.

A friction stir welding apparatus has a novel tool-in-tool construction where a friction stir welding pin tool extends through a center bore of a friction stir welding shoulder tool and is moveable axially and rotationally relative to the shoulder tool. The pin tool and shoulder tool both have their own dedicated tool holders and spindles that enable the tools to rotate and move axially relative to each other and enable easy replacement of each of the tools.

The present invention relates to a rotary joint for joining two waveguides for guiding electromagnetic waves, comprising a first portion adapted to receive a first waveguide, a second portion adapted to receive a second waveguide, and a third portion adapted for polarization rotation and arranged between the first portion and the second portion. The rotary joint is configured such that two portions selected from the group comprising the first portion, the second portion and the third portion are rotatable between at least two different angular positions around a central axis. Further, the rotary joint being configured to switch between a jointed state, in which the portions contact each other for electrical connection, and a non-jointed state. The present invention also relates to a method of operating such a rotary joint and a computer program and a computer readable non-transitory medium for implementing such a method.

A securities trading system utilizes distributed data processing effected by a central processing station and a plurality of processing consoles all tied to a common network. The central station includes several computation sequences that can be used to compute the autocorrelation distribution function of any one security price to predict the probable price variation increment within a contract consummation interval, the cross correlation between various securities to determine any pattern of offsetting trades, and a reconciliation sequence to effect the securities transactions within the price variation increment. The autocorrelation and cross correlation sequences can be transferred for processing in one of the consoles, thereby allowing for a distributed processing arrangement of a plurality of securities patterns, and the computation results can be displayed on the console monitor that is interested in the particular security. A price increment selected for a particular level of probability is included in each buy and sell offer and if the offers intersect a transaction is consummated. The ratios of the buy and sell increments are then used to distribute the price overlap.

The present invention relates to a rotary joint for joining two waveguides for guiding electromagnetic waves, comprising a first portion adapted to receive a first waveguide, a second portion adapted to receive a second waveguide, and a third portion adapted for polarization rotation and arranged between the first portion and the second portion. The rotary joint is configured such that two portions selected from the group comprising the first portion, the second portion and the third portion are rotatable between at least two different angular positions around a central axis. Further, the rotary joint being configured to switch between a jointed state, in which the portions contact each other for electrical connection, and a non-jointed state. The present invention also relates to a method of operating such a rotary joint and a computer program and a computer readable non-transitory medium for implementing such a method.

Described herein are methods and mechanisms for laterally dispensing fluid to a coke drum in a predictable and maintainable manner that alleviates thermal stress. In one embodiment, the methods and mechanisms utilize a split piping system to dispense fluid through two or more inlets into a spool that is connected to a coke drum and a coke drum bottom deheader valve. A combination of block valves and clean out ports provides a more effective means to clean the lines and allows fluid to be laterally dispensed in a controllable and predictable manner. The fluid is preferably introduced to the spool in opposing directions toward a central vertical axis of the spool at equal but opposing angles ranging from minus thirty (−30) to thirty (30) degrees relative to a horizontal line laterally bisecting the spool. Alternatively, however, fluid can be introduced to the spool tangentially.

A method and apparatus for requesting bandwidth in a subscriber station is disclosed. The method dynamically changes the size of the bandwidth request based on the prediction of the number of packets needed to be transmitted. The average delay experienced by packets in a queue is measured, and this information is then used to change the coefficient of a prediction equation. When the experienced average delay is below the agreed upon QoS latency parameter or delay target, the method reduces the size of the bandwidth requests by making the prediction equation more conservative. On the other hand, when the experienced delay is above the agreed upon latency, the algorithm will make the prediction equation more aggressive, increasing the bandwidth requests and reducing the latency for future packets. By modifying the prediction equation based on the measured delay, the method is able to select the optimal point for achieving time delay requirements while preserving air-link resources.

To provide efficient and effective modeling of data set, the data set is initially separated into several subsets which can then be processed independently. The subsets themselves are chosen to have some internal commonality, thus providing effective independent tools where possible. This commonality may include correlation between variables or interaction amongst the variables in the subset. Once separated, each subset is independently modeled, creating a subset model having predictive qualities related to the data subset. Next, the subset models themselves are aggregated to generate a overall final model. This final model is predictive of outcomes based upon all data in the data set, thus providing a more robust stable model.

A gasket for an electronic device for providing shielding against electromagnetic interference. The gasket is intended to be mounted between a first structural part and a second structural part of the electronic device. The gasket comprises conductive sealant paste and a carrier structure on which the sealant paste rests. The conductive sealant paste rests on the carrier structure as sealant paste areas such that the sealant paste areas are at apertures comprised by the carrier structure that perforate the carrier structure, being supported on the carrier structure and thus generating galvanic connections through said sealant paste areas at the apertures perforating the carrier structure from a first side of the carrier structure to a second side of the carrier structure.

A friction stir welding apparatus has a novel tool-in-tool construction where a friction stir welding pin tool extends through a center bore of a friction stir welding shoulder tool and is moveable axially and rotationally relative to the shoulder tool. The pin tool and shoulder tool both have their own dedicated tool holders and spindles that enable the tools to rotate and move axially relative to each other and enable easy replacement of each of the tools.

A data processing system 2 incorporating an instruction pipeline 14 and a prefetch unit 16 is provided with a branch prediction mechanism using both a branch prediction memory 20 storing 1-bit values indicating strongly taken or strongly not taken together with a branch prediction cache indicating for certain selected branch history values either weakly taken or weakly not taken predictions. When a conditional branch instruction is encountered, then the preceding branch prediction history is used to access a first prediction within the branch prediction memory 20 and is looked up to check for a hit within the branch prediction cache 22. If a hit occurs, then a second prediction within the branch prediction cache 22 is used in preference to the first prediction, otherwise the first prediction is used. The misprediction by a first prediction value stored within the branch prediction memory 20 triggers a second prediction to be cached within the branch prediction cache 22 corresponding to that mispredicted history value.

This specification discloses a financial risk forecast system and the method thereof with artificial intelligence. The mentioned financial risk forecast system and the method can uses multi-layer perception (deep neural network) and recurrent neural network model structure to generate more accurate risk predictions for financial instruments. According to this specification, financial institutions can efficiently structure portfolios that incorporate the potential increase / decrease of future instrument volatilities and appropriate hedging / diversification.

A method of joining a first component to a second component, the method comprising preparing the first component by forming an array of projections extending from a bond surface of the first component, each projection having a base, a tapered tip and a tapered overhang beneath the tip, wherein the overhang has an undercut surface which is inclined and faces towards the local bond surface; bringing the components together so as to embed the projections in the second component; and hardening the second component after the array of projections has been embedded into it. Also, a joint so formed.

A container or dish is useful for the micro manipulation, micro injection, biopsy and fertilization in oocyte and embryo manipulation and culturing. The dish allows the user to more readily perform procedures used to fertilize oocytes by Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) or other procedures, biopsy embryos and perform additional procedures for use in assisted reproductive techniques (ART), human reproduction and in-vitro fertilization (IVF). The invention allows ease in use, the reduction in the number of micro tools used in the procedure, as opposed to conventional dishes and procedures, and will allow the user to more readily locate the oocytes and embryos to be handled and worked on. The invention will add repetitiveness, consistency, improve efficacy and ease of procedure and may improve outcomes. The invention will also give the user a more ergonomically practical dish for these types of procedures and related protocols. Specimens other than oocytes and embryos can be treated in the container by means of micro manipulation.

A data processing system 2 incorporating an instruction pipeline 14 and a prefetch unit 16 is provided with a branch prediction mechanism using both a branch prediction memory 20 storing 1-bit values indicating strongly taken or strongly not taken together with a branch prediction cache indicating for certain selected branch history values either weakly taken or weakly not taken predictions. When a conditional branch instruction is encountered, then the preceding branch prediction history is used to access a first prediction within the branch prediction memory 20 and is looked up to check for a hit within the branch prediction cache 22. If a hit occurs, then a second prediction within the branch prediction cache 22 is used in preference to the first prediction, otherwise the first prediction is used. The misprediction by a first prediction value stored within the branch prediction memory 20 triggers a second prediction to be cached within the branch prediction cache 22 corresponding to that mispredicted history value.

A system and method are disclosed for optimizing website effectiveness. Original input data associated with a plurality of website effectiveness variables is processed using a website effectiveness model to generate a first website effectiveness value, which in turn is processed to generate a dependent variable. Input data corresponding to an individual website effectiveness variable is then processed to generate changed input data, which in turn is processed by the website effectiveness model with the original input data and the dependent variable to generate a second website effectiveness value. The first and second website effectiveness values are then processed to determine the effect of the changed data on the first website effectiveness value.

The systems and methods of the present invention provide an economically feasible means of thermally processing items such as food products. In some embodiments, the thermal process is a pasteurization process. In other embodiments, the thermal process is a sterilization process. The thermal process utilizes a volumetric heating process to quickly and efficiently add heat energy to the item and then utilizes a surface heating process to obtain a relatively even, highly elevated, temperature throughout the item. In this way, the time required to perform various thermal processes, such as pasteurization and / or sterilization, is greatly reduced compared with traditional processes while still being more reliable and more predictable than other recently developed processes. Furthermore, the system and method is less complicated and more efficient than other systems and processes currently known. Furthermore still, the method includes spraying fluid onto a surface of the item to reduce edge heating.

In the claimed approach, a high efficiency video coding codec optimizes the memory resources used during motion vector (MV) prediction. As the codec processes block of pixels, known as coding units (CUs), the codec performs read and write operations on a fixed-sized neighbor union buffer representing the MVs associated with processed CUs. In operation, for each CU, the codec determines the indices at which proximally-located “neighbor” MVs are stored within the neighbor union buffer. The codec then uses these neighbor MVs to compute new MVs. Subsequently, the codec deterministically updates the neighbor union buffer—replacing irrelevant MVs with those new MVs that are useful for computing the MVs of unprocessed CUs. By contrast, many conventional codecs not only redundantly store MVs, but also retain irrelevant MVs. Consequently, the codec reduces memory usage and memory operations compared to conventional codecs, thereby decreasing power consumption and improving codec efficiency.

A gasket for an electronic device for providing shielding against electromagnetic interference. The gasket is intended to be mounted between a first structural part and a second structural part of the electronic device. The gasket comprises conductive sealant paste and a carrier structure on which the sealant paste rests. The conductive sealant paste rests on the carrier structure as sealant paste areas such that the sealant paste areas are at apertures comprised by the carrier structure that perforate the carrier structure, being supported on the carrier structure and thus generating galvanic connections through said sealant paste areas at the apertures perforating the carrier structure from a first side of the carrier structure to a second side of the carrier structure.

A system and method for detecting gene-environment interactions, a method of making predictions about individual response to a specific environmental factor with respect to a single phenotype and a simulation method determining the optimal parameters for use of the gene-environment interaction detection method. Gene-environment interaction detection and the discovery of previously unknown interactions are facilitated.